Author's Note:

I know this is confusing, but it will all make sense given time. Promise. I will give you a hint to the stories. This part, I will dub the second part, takes place before the first part. Don't think about it too hard. I still don't own ROTG. If you do, then good job. And if you figure this out, then even better job.

"So, Jack, tell me about your season? How have you been?" Tooth started the conversation, all having received a plate of food and were eating contently, all except Jack, who stared at his food as if it were questioning his life choices. Jack sighed and pushed the plate away from him.

"It's fine, Tooth. I'm fine, everything's fine." Jack said, and messed with a button on his shirt.

"Jack, you can't keep doing this. You have been ignoring us for months now. Please tell us what is wrong?" Jack continued playing with his shirt button, acting as if Tooth had not spoken.

"Oi, Sunburn, answer her." Bunny snapped, then sat back and ran his paw over his ears. "Look, Jack, we have all been worried about you, alright? You've been avoiding us like the plague and we all just want to know what you have been doing all this time." Bunny tried reasoning, but Jack just ignored him. "Fine, have it your way. Why would I care about a brat like you anyhow?" Bunny finally snapped then went back to his meal, angrily chopping up the cooked vegetables on his plate.

Tooth flew over to Jack and landed next to him, putting her arm over his shoulder. "Please tell us what is wrong, Jack. We all know that you were late for another reason today. Just tell us the truth, and we can help."

"There's nothing wrong, Tooth." Jack muttered, unable to ignore Tooth any longer. She was always there for him when he needed it and he did not want to upset her.

"Then what have you been doing the past few months? We really do want to know, Jack. We all care about you." Jack shook his head and dropped his hands into his lap.

"It's nothing, really. Just, you know, the usual stuff. Hanging out in the desert, making it storm, stuff."

"And what about that tornado outbreak in the states back a month ago?" Bunny said through a mouth of cooked broccoli. Jack inhaled sharply and looked away. A light buzzing began in the back of his mind and he could feel electricity flowing through him.

"Ow!" Tooth yelped and pulled her arm away from Jack. Jack huddled into himself and apologized.

"Cool down a minute, Jack. I was just inquirin'. Worried, you know?" but Jack just stared at the table, knees tucked in under his chin and arms wrapped around his legs. Tooth approached Jack again, hesitant incase the air around him was still electrified, and touched Jack's shoulder gently.

"Jack, we only want to help. You know that. We all love you and do not want to see you like this. Just tell us what the problem is and we will help, no questions asked." Tooth soothed, trying to calm Jack and have him talk to them. Jack turned his head away from the faery and closed his eyes, then let the tension in his body ease for a minute. The temperature in the room fell a bit as Jack calmed back down, the heat radiating off of him less intense.

"It-it's just, you know." Jack mumbled into his knees. Everyone at the table stared at Jack until Bunny finally decided to speak up.

"Yeah, what are we supposed to know?" Bunny took another bite from a steamed carrot and grimaced at the taste. "Never did like carrots…" he mumbled, then turned his eyes back to Jack who was still unmoving, Tooth still at his side.

"You can tell us in your own time, if make you feel better." North said from his end of the table, then took a swig of his ale. Jack nodded, answering North, and Tooth took her seat.

Dinner proceeded with Tooth and North discussing the best use of swords in battle, while Bunny and Sandy made a small house out of the carrots. Jack sat in his chair and watched them, having yet to touch his own plate. After the carrot house finally toppled over, Jack lost his patience.

"Look, I attended dinner. Now can I please go?"

"You are not hungry?" North asked, standing up to walk over to the boy. Jack stood from his seat, grabbed his staff and began heading toward the door, away from North.

"I'm never hungry. I'm dead, remember?" Jack spat back to the group, then left through the opening. North went to follow Jack out the door but was held back gently by Tooth, who was shaking her head.

"He needs some time alone." She said, but North was having none of it.

"He asked for space last time, and we gave it to him. It has been months, Tooth. He needs to tell us what is wrong. It is creating unrest in atmosphere. Is very dangerous." North explained, then walked out of the door after Jack.

Jack kept his head low and speed walked through the workshop, not wanting to be mesmerized by any of North's contraptions. He enjoyed watching and playing with them, but being in the North Pole always made him feel edgy. He could feel the cold seeping in from every direction around him, could hear the Northern wind howling around outside, telling him he did not belong here, and Jack never argued with it. He was not meant to be here, and he thoroughly enjoyed it when they had a meeting at Tooth's palace, or in Bunny's warren. Why they kept coming back to this place, however, Jack would never understand.

Jack picked up his pace as he heard North's shouting a ways behind him. The workshop was crowded as usual, and that also made Jack feel uneasy. He spent most of his time in the desert or somewhere secluded where no one else could bother him. Being here surrounded by so many at once bothered him more than anyone could understand.

Jack pushed his way past a few yetis and elves holding books and bottles of multicolored liquids. He kept squeezing his way through, trying to keep his head down and his heart steady until he made it to the other side, when he was pushed over by one of the yetis. The bottles and books the yeti of holding toppled over Jack, a few of them shattering on the floor and others landing right on Jack. He was knocked over, his vision becoming fuzzy, when one of the bottles hit him square in the head and he fell on the broken bottles on the floor. His senses fuzzy, he lay in the mingling liquids below him, unable to find the energy to get up.

"Jack!" North shouted as he finally approached the chaotic scene before him. Yetis and elves were scrambling to clean up the domino effect that Jack had accidentally created during his rush to leave. Jack, as it were, was in the epicenter of the chaos, and was lucky enough to be covered in the insides of the only bottles that were broken in the mess. North's heart skipped when he approached Jack's still form, but sighed in relief when he saw him trying to get up when he came closer.

"Jack, don't move." North warned, knowing that those potions were not something to be trifled with. North bent down near Jack, careful not to touch any of the concoctions on the floor. North noticed, after careful study, that Jack's blood was mingling with the potions. He traced his way back up to the deep cut on Jack's arm, which was steadily seeping blood. North's eyes widened and he picked up Jack from the mess, hoping it was not too late. He brushed some of the glass from Jack's hair and shirt, careful not to cut himself in the process, and ordered his yetis to cautiously clean up the mess. He applied pressure to Jack's wound on his arm, then noticed a bit of blood seeping from under his bangs. His eyes followed that up to the cut on the top of his head, where blood was matting his hair together.

Tooth and Bunny appeared from the doorway after they heard the crash. They watched the scene unfold and raced over to North who was holding Jack as if he were the most fragile china doll.

"What happened?" Bunny was able to get out as North brushed past him, heading to the infirmary. Tooth followed and Sandy finally appeared from the room, also following the group. Right as they reached the infirmary, Jack snapped out of his daze and jumped from North's arms. North gasped and watched as Jack ran from the hall and back into the workshop.

"I'll get him." Bunny growled and hopped ahead, chasing after Jack.

Jack rounded the corner at breakneck speeds and grabbed his staff from among the mess of yetis and elves. He then ran for the window and pushed it open, jumping out with ease. The wind caught him and pulled him high into the air until he was above the clouds and was then switched over to the southern wind's care. Jack let his breathing even out as he drifted lazily above the clouds, and shivered. He could see nothing but white for miles, but he felt better already. He clutched his staff tight as he flew through the wind, but winced when his arm began to throb. He stared down at the offending arm and was surprised to see that blood was seeping from a deep wound there. It would heal with time, and the wound would not kill him, but he should get it patched up anyhow.

"Wonder how I got that…" Jack said to himself, then ripped off one of his sleeves and wrapped it tightly around his arm to staunch the flow of blood. He shrugged and winced as his head began to throb. He held it to stop the pounding then pulled it back when he felt something wet seep between his fingers. Blood was covering his hand and Jack gulped.

"Going to have to fix that too…" Jack mused, then felt the world begin to slip away from him. His headache became overwhelming just as his vision became black.